


Someone's Champion

by Toxictimefanfics



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, ジョジョの奇妙な冒険 | JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken | JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Stands (JoJo), Awkward Conversations, Awkwardness, Eventual Romance, Gay Panic, Kujo Jotaro is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Mutual Pining, Noriaki doesn't trust Jotaro as far as he can fucking throw him at first, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build, Slow Burn, So is Noriaki, This is a slow burn I guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:07:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27273166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toxictimefanfics/pseuds/Toxictimefanfics
Summary: Noriaki's been training almost his entire life to be the Champion of the Johto Region, what happens when things don't quite go his way?(This is just a JotaKak slow burn fic but Pokémon themed)
Relationships: Kakyoin Noriaki/Kujo Jotaro, Mohammed Abdul | Muhammad Avdol/Jean Pierre Polnareff (background)
Comments: 26
Kudos: 43





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Boom, Pokemon crossover! Yeah, I know it's weird, but I've been thinking about it since the Crown Tundra DLC came out for Pokemon Sword and Sheild, I couldn't resist.
> 
> Knowledge of Pokemon isn't really required to read this but it'll sure as hell help, but I hope I explained things well enough for it to be an easy read regardless!

Noriaki never thought this moment would come, where he's facing down the Champion with his Pokémon at his side. He knows full well that he's not the strongest trainer, but he figured he'd give it a try. The first member of the elite four was surprisingly easy to take down, and the others fell without much of a fight.

But now he's face to face with the Champion, all his Pokémon had taken quite a beating in the previous fights and are now close to fainting; as always, he sends his Serperior, Hierophant, out first. He knows that it's not the greatest idea, but it's the best he's got at the moment.

He yells for Hierophant to use Giga Drain, a move that would restore some of his partner's health while damaging the other Pokémon. Deep down, Noriaki knows he made a mistake by not bringing many Pokémon that would do more damage to the Champion's team, but he's confident his team has what it takes to take the other trainer down.

"Leading with a grass type, not exactly the smartest move." The Champion says with a somewhat stern voice. He's not wrong; using a grass type against a dragon is practically asking to be beaten, but Noriaki has a plan and won't let the Champion's disapproval taint that.

"Hierophant, Emerald Splash!" He calls to the Pokémon, knowing it'd confuse the other trainer.

Sure enough, the Champion looks incredibly confused for a moment, allowing Hierophant to get a few good hits in before the other trainer realizes that the "Emerald Splash." is just Leaf Storm.

Lance laughs as his first Pokémon goes down, "that's a funny move, kid."

Noriaki blushes at the pseudo praise, "I started jokingly referring to Leaf Storm as Emerald Splash when Hierophant first learned the move; now that's the only thing he responds to."

"That's kinda smart, weird, but smart. You confuse your opponent long enough to take out their Pokémon, but a trick like that will only work once, so now you've got to work for it." Lance grins as he pulls his Pokémon back and releases the next.

The next Pokémon is the same as the last, a Dragonair, that's not exactly a good thing, but the first one was easy to take out, so the second shouldn't be too hard.

Noriaki sighs and calls Hierophant back to his side; he's not going to be able to beat this Pokémon the same way he did before. Scolipede should be alright against the Dragonair.

"Scolipede, use Toxic!" Noriaki calls then watches as his Pokémon scuttles across the arena and quickly poisons the other Pokémon. "Great, now use Venom Drench!" After the two moves, the opposing Dragonair is noticeably slower and battling poison on top of it.

Lance hums, "not bad kid," he looks to his Pokémon, the look in his eye says he knows it won't be standing much longer.

While the Champion isn't looking, Noriaki switches his Pokémon, "Espeon bite it!" He calls, drawing Lance's attention back to the battle. Espeon barely evades the Dragonair's Slam and lands a hard bite to the dragon's neck.

The opposing Pokémon goes down with a cry, much to Lance's amusement; he smiles and sends out his Aerodactyl, "two of five, you're doing good."

Noriaki beams, he'd heard that the Champion only had five Pokémon on his team, but he didn't quite believe it until now, but Aerodactyl, that's going to be challenging to deal with.

Lance calls out his first move before Noriaki can react; it uses Crunch on Espeon and leaves her looking worse for wear.

"Shit." The teen mutters to himself as he watches his Espeon stumble as she returns to his side. Espeon wobbles on her little feet where she stands. It's obvious she's close to fainting. "Espeon, Confusion." 

The Aerodactyl falls back slightly as the near-invisible attack, it launches itself back into the air, though obviously confused.

Lance hums, "Aerodactyl, Stone Edge." The fossil Pokémon dives toward Espeon and takes her out with a sharpened stone. She falls to the ground with a dull thud, making her trainer react with a wince.

"You did a good job, Espeon," Noriaki whispers as he withdraws his Pokémon and prepares to send out the next.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're doing a lot better than most. Usually, kids like you can't even beat the Dragonair's." Lance says, giving Noriaki a moment to collect himself and prepare another strategy.

He sends out his Skarmory, a recent addition to the team, and by the looks of it, one he's going to need.

"Ah! So you do understand type matchups! I was beginning to worry!" The shit-eating grin on Lance's face only makes Noriaki want his title more.

Aerodactyl is far faster than Skarmory and is able to try and get a hit in before Noriaki can react. Still, the confusion Espeon set up before she fainted comes in handy as Aerodactyl hits itself instead.

"Good! Skarmory, Steel Wing!" The metal bird darts across the arena and slashes at Aerodactyl, leaving a considerable gash behind.

It stumbles a bit before finally falling to the ground, not moving. 

"Huh, that was pretty fast, but I've still got two Pokémon left." 

Right, and at this point in the battle, Noriaki is far from worried about that, he's got five Pokémon, and the Champion has two; he's got more than enough firepower on his side to win. Lance sends out a Gyrados next, a massive beast that doesn't quite belong in a Dragon trainer's party. 

"Why does he-" Noriaki mutters to himself but stops since he's got better things to worry about right now. "Hierophant, get back out there." He says to the Pokémon, still waiting patiently at his side as he withdraws Skarmory from battle.

Hierophant slithers his way onto the field, much to Lance's amusement, "your partner can't do much in the ways of helping you, you know that right?"

"Yes, I know, but he can still do full damage to your Gyarados, unlike my Skarmory, who would've only done half damage. I thought you knew about type matchups?" 

Lance growls an order for his Gyarados to use Dragon Rage, a move that'll do quite a bit of damage should it hit Hierophant. He's thankfully able to dodge the attack and land one of his own without being asked. Vine Whip isn't the most potent move; both Pokémon and trainer know that, but it gives Noriaki a bit of time to figure out what to do next.

"Hierophant! Toss it to the side and use Emerald Splash!" The Pokémon does as he's told, using the vines from the previous move to toss the opposing Gyarados to the ground, then uses Leaf Storm at point-blank range, this move does a lot more than it would normally, yet the Gyrados is still standing.

At this point, Lance is done with small talk as he's beginning to see Noriaki's potential in beating him, a potential he doesn't like all that much. Gyarados rears back and attempts to bite Hierophant, but Noriaki's quick shout sees the Grass serpent dodging instead of being hit.

The Gyarados swivels back and returns to its trainer's side. The Champion almost looks mad that his title is going to be taken from him, he can see the fight in his opponent's eyes, and he knows he's going to lose. In a matter of minutes, the leviathan is on the ground, unable to get up.

Lance doesn't say anything as he withdraws Gyarados and sends out his Dragonite. Noriaki knows that it's more powerful than it looks, but he can't help but laugh at the dragon's look, with its wide happy smile and big dopey eyes.

"Hierophant, come on back," Noriaki calls and sends out his Scolipede in his place. Scolipede is far faster than the Dragonite and is able to hit it before it has the chance to move. Toxic hits and badly poisons the dragon, but while Scolipede's close, he's hit by Dragon Rush.

Scolipede scuttles back to his end of the arena, swaying slightly after being hurt. Noriaki calls for the bug to come back and sends out Smeargle in his place. Lance's eyes widen in recognition; if he doesn't take Smeargle out in one move, he's going to lose.

He calls for Dragonite to use Dragon Rush again, but it misses, allowing Smeargle to copy the move and send it back, and this time it hits, and it hits  _ hard.  _ Dragon types being weak to Dragon-type moves has always been confusing to Noriaki, but he's not going to complain right now when the action does double the amount of damage it normally would.

The dragon takes a bit of damage from the poison and begins to sway a bit on its feet, currently unable to take to the air. Lance looks stressed because he's on his last Pokémon, and doesn't want his title taken from him.

Desperate for something to work, Lance calls for Dragonite to use Hyper Beam, quickly taking out the Smeargle.

"Hah! Still got it!" Lance yells, mostly for himself, but he forgets that Noriaki still has four Pokémon left to beat him with.

Scolipede is sent back out into the field and uses Venom Drench while Lance is distracted, decreasing Dragonite's speed by a considerable amount. The dragon still attempts to attack with what little strength it has left; it whirls around and hits Scolipede with the move Dragon Tail. Dragonite winces due to the poison, then stumbles and falls; Noriaki won.

"Holy shit, I did it. I did it!" In his excitement, Noriaki forgets all about Lance and brings his Pokémon, the ones that are out, close for a hug. He takes Hierophant's face in his hands and whispers, "we did it, bud; thank you so much for helping me."

A slow clap echoes from the other side of the arena, drawing the teen's attention back to the former Champion, "good job, kid, you're the new Champion. Now there's some stuff you need to know before I go, so come with me." Lance says with anger clouding his every word.

With nothing else to do, Noriaki follows Lance down the hall and to an ornate room with what looks like one of the tables used to treat Pokémon at a Pokécenter, "what's this for?" He asks, his eyes never leaving the table.

"It's to register your Pokémon to the Hall of Fame since you're the new Champion," Lance says coldly.

Noriaki huffs, "just because I beat you doesn't mean you should give me the cold shoulder. It was a fair fight, and you know it."

"That doesn't mean I need to be happy about it either kid, call your Pokémon back into their balls, and put them on the table; the sooner we get this over with, the sooner I get to leave."

"One problem with that, Hierophant doesn't have a Pokéball; he never has."

"Fine, whatever, you can add him manually later, just do it."

Noriaki raises his hands in mock surrender and does as he's told. The monitor behind the table lights up as he places each of his team members. Once they're all in place, the screen displays a congratulations message and a small message of encouragement to the future Champion.

"Right, one last thing before I leave, anyone can come back to challenge you as many times as they want, you as the Champion have the power to tell them to stop coming back for the day, assuming they challenge you multiple times in one day. But the point is that anyone has unlimited chances to take you down. You're not on some untouchable pedestal." Lance tells him, the slight lilt of anger, never leaving his voice.

"Does that mean you're coming to take your title back?" Noriaki asks, somewhat worried.

"Nope, the title's all yours until someone takes it from you."

The teen smiles wide, excited to start his new career as the Champion of the Johto Region.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is gonna be a bit of a slow burn in terms of JotaKak content, Jotaro will be in the next chapter, and will be in the rest of the story.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jotaro and Noriaki have a little chat

Three hours. That's how long Noriaki's the Champion before someone comes and takes it from him. Three hours wasn't even long enough for it to fully sink in that he had the title.

Jotaro Kujo. That's the guy who took it; he seemed calm about the whole thing. Noriaki isn't sure if he even cares about the title; maybe he just wanted a fight. 

Regardless, Noriaki lost, and he's  _ furious  _ about it. He's been training most of his life for this, and for what? To have his hard work taken from him in a matter of minutes. His first fight as Champion was also his last.

So he goes back, day after day, to challenge Jotaro, and day after day, he loses. Again, and again, and again. It gets to the point where Noriaki gets sick of his commands, his heartless, monotone commands to his Pokémon, the team who got him here in the first place. Days bleed into weeks, then into months. Every day Noriaki loses, the more he hates the other teen.

"Do you want to go to lunch?" Jotaro asks one day, entirely out of the blue.

Noriaki was halfway out the door but paused to turn back to the Champion, "what in the world makes you think I want to have lunch with you?"

"I don't know, and you're the one who's been coming back for months on end only to get your ass handed to you." Jotaro huffs, "are you saying no to a free lunch?"

Noriaki gives him a small smile, the most he's likely ever going to get, "you never said you were paying."

"I didn't think I had to."

When they leave, Jotaro has to inform nearly everyone in the building that he's going for the day, it's a lot more hassle than necessary, but Jotaro insists this is the only way they'll be left alone for the rest of the day. Jotaro takes the redhead to a small cafe in Goldenrod City, one that he had never been to before; he wants to be impressed, he really does, but the anger outweighs that.

"So… You're not planning to murder me, right?" Noriaki asks once they've sat at a booth.

Jotaro rolls his eyes, "If I were planning to murder you, I wouldn't have brought you somewhere public." Hierophant curls around Noriaki's chair protectively, watching Jotaro's every move. "Relax, I'm not going to hurt him." He says, not backing down from the serpent's gaze.

Noriaki sighs, "fine, so you're not going to kill me, but surely you're annoyed with me."

"No, you've got it wrong; I look forward to you challenging me every day."

"Do you really?" Noriaki laughs bitterly, "I highly doubt you like me coming back so often."

"You're the closest thing I've had to an actual rival, someone who "pushes me to be better." and all that other bullshit people talk about."

"You… consider me to be your rival? Huh, that's- I wasn't expecting that."

"Then what were you expecting?" 

Jotaro's steely blue gaze makes Noriaki freeze, "honestly? I was expecting you to hate me."

"I took your title. It's only right you want it back. I just didn't expect you to be this desperate about it."

"I worked hard to earn that title, and you came and took it from me three whole hours after I got it, so yeah, I'm trying to get it back."

Jotaro winces, "I'm sorry, I had no idea." he says genuinely, "going in, I didn't expect to beat you; I just saw it as a challenge." That somehow makes it worse, not that Noriaki will tell him that.

The redhead stares at the Champion for a moment, taking in his features. Noriaki hasn't gotten a good look at him until now; he's actually somewhat cute… No, absolutely not. He didn't just think that he's supposed to be mad at Jotaro.

"So, you brought me out here to be nice?" Noriaki scoffs after shaking off his distraction.

Jotaro smiles awkwardly at the blunt nature of the accusation, "well yeah, and we've spent a lot of time together without really knowing what the other person's deal is."

Well, this is fucking awkward; good job Noriaki, you messed up. The two of them stay silent until their food arrives, and Hierophant has to uncurl from around the chair.

"You're uh- real friendly with your Pokémon," Jotaro says in an attempt to start a conversation.

Noriaki glances at Hierophant, who's taken to resting his head on his trainer's shoulder, "Hierophant's my best friend; I've had him since he was a Snivy; we practically grew up together." Hierophant adds some chirps as if he agrees with the statement.

"Huh, I didn't get Star until recently. My grandpa gave him to me as a present."

"Wait, your grandpa just  _ gave  _ you your Lapras?"

Jotaro chuckles, "he owns a Pokémon trading company, and someone gave him Star, said he was too aggressive to be anyone's companion."

"But, you were able to fix that, right?"

"Oh, no, he still bites sometimes; we're working on it." Jotaro holds up his hands, drawing Noriaki's attention to them; they're covered in scars.

"Well, the scars over my eyes are from Hierophant." That gets Jotaro to look Noriaki in the eye for the first time since they got to the cafe. 

"Really?" 

"Oh yeah, I made the mistake of trying to sneak up on him to surprise him; Vine Whip hurts a lot more than I expected." Noriaki chuckles, mostly to himself.

"Do they still hurt?"

"I- no, they don't. They did for a while, but I got them a few months ago; what pain I had has faded by now."

"That's good."

"Right-" 

The awkward silence returns tenfold, the two teens turn to ignoring each other in favor of eating. Every few minutes, Noriaki gives a little piece to Hierophant. It's almost cute how close he is to his Pokémon.

"So, you mentioned that you don't want to be the Champion, then what do you want to do?" Noriaki asks quietly.

The question seems to take Jotaro by surprise, as he starts choking on his food, though he quickly regains composure, "I uh, I want to study Water Pokémon." That's actually kind of cute, seeing his eyes light up at the thought of it. "What about you? Is Champion the only thing you've got in mind?"

"I guess I could be a Gym Leader, but I've dreamed of being the Champion for so long that I can't see myself doing anything else, but I guess I'll figure something out since it doesn't look like I'll be beating you any time soon."

"Don't give up." Jotaro says quickly; he takes a deep breath before continuing, "I want you to keep coming back until you beat me, do you understand?"

Noriaki stares at him for a few minutes, then laughs, "Arceus, why do you even care? I've been at this for  _ months,  _ and this is the first time you've even talked to me!" His little outburst has gained some of the other patrons' attention, but Noriaki can't bring himself to care. "You, Jotaro Kujo, took my life goal away from me, and now you're telling me to keep fighting to win it back? Do you understand how that sounds? It sounds like you want me to keep coming back for an easy fight every fucking day, is that what you want, to beat me over and over again until I've had enough?" Tears are falling down his cheeks now, falling with tiny little thuds on the table below.

"That's not what I want."

"Then what do you want? Because this is pretty damn confusing!"

"I-"

"It feels like you're fucking using me for your amusement; nothing you say is going to change that. You're so much stronger than I am. I was able to beat Lance because he was an arrogant asshole who was incredibly easy to distract. But you? You're a challenge, and something tells me you know that."

"Please-"

"Please, what? "Please keep subjecting yourself to embarrassment day after day until you beat me" is that what you want? That's not fair to me, nor is it fair to my Pokémon. And if you think I'm going to come back just because you want me to, you're a fucking fool."

One of the waitresses approaches the table in a vain attempt to diffuse the situation, but Jotaro glares at her, and she decides it's best to leave them alone.

Hierophant looks confused for a moment but settles on a look of pure malice directed at Jotaro; the combined looks from both Trainer and Pokémon almost make the champion shrink in on himself, but he stands his ground.

"I know you don't believe me, but I don't see it that way. I wanted you to keep challenging me until you won, just because I want you to take your title back." Jotaro mutters, not even taking the effort of making his statement believable.

Noriaki frowns, "if that's the case, you would've let me win by now!"

"I just. I look forward to seeing you every day; you have a completely different energy than every other trainer I've seen come through that door. You want to prove you're the best instead of doing it for the money. I've seen so many trainers who only wanted to beat me because of the money and not to prove that they could." The redhead's shoulders slump at the weight of the statement. Did he mean that? Or was he spouting more bullshit? 

"I don't know what to believe, but one thing's for sure, I can't keep doing this every day. Today was going to be my last challenge for at least a week. You- I don't know what to make of you, and something about that scares me; I can't get a good read on you, it's messing with my head. I can't fucking stand it." Noriaki stands up, altogether abandoning his food in favor of backing away slowly. "Hierophant, come on, we're leaving." 

That's the last thing he says before he leaves. After a minute, the same waitress from before comes to check on Jotaro. He pays the bill and then returns home, hoping that one day, the redhead will go back to rechallenge him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was fun, in case you didn't pick up on it in the chapter, they both find the other attractive at this point in the fic, but that's about it.


	3. Chapter 3

True to his word, Noriaki doesn't return to challenge Jotaro for a week; he's almost apprehensive about returning once the time is up. He does anyways. Of course, he still wants his title back after all. The second he steps in the door, he's called over by the nurse working at the small Pokémon Center table. 

"You came back! I wasn't sure if I'd see you again!" She says excitedly once he's close enough for conversation.

The redhead sighs, "yeah, I'm back. I had to give myself and my Pokémon a break from being beaten every day."

"Oh! About that, the Champion wanted me to give you these when I saw you." She hands him a small box and waits until he opens it to continue.

He does so reluctantly and can't quite believe his eyes when he sees. Green serpentine earrings lie in the box, one perfectly shaped to look exactly like Hierophant. "He got me these?" Noriaki whispers, awe lacing his voice. He looks over the box's contents before picking up one of the earrings to examine it further.

One of them is meant to wrap around his ear, the head of the serpent resting against the cartilage of his ear, and the other is a leaf, pristine and green; it looks exactly like the leaves on Hierophant's tail. They're gorgeous, and it's almost sweet that Jotaro's the one who got them.

"He had them custom made, in case you were wondering." Nurse Joy informs him slowly, quietly, trying her best not to break his attention.

The redhead's attention is torn away from the box and back to the woman in front of him, "did he now? He must really want to talk to me." he mutters. Not that a fancy little present will make him forgive Jotaro, but it does make the whole ordeal a little easier.

"Oh, yes! He wants to talk to you! That's the other thing I was supposed to tell you! Silly me, it almost slipped my mind!" The nurse informs him cheerfully.

He smiles, "well, I'll have to thank him for these; they're gorgeous." He finally puts the earring back in the box in favor of taking out the ones he's wearing currently. A moment later, the new earrings are in place, with a comfortable weight on his ears. Noriaki smiles slightly and traces the serpent on his right ear for a minute before returning his gaze to Nurse Joy.

"They're very charming! I'm sure the Champion will be glad you like them, speaking of, I shouldn't keep you here any longer than I have to. Go ahead and go inside."

He does precisely that, saying goodbye to the kind woman, Noriaki makes his way to the arena. The moment he steps inside, he's incredibly uneasy; what is he going to say?

Jotaro beats him to it, "you came back." He says just loud enough for Noriaki to hear.

"I did; I told you I would, didn't I?" Noriaki chuckles.

"No, you didn't. You just said you weren't coming back for a week."

Noriaki thinks back to the conversation they had in the cafe and decides that Jotaro's right, "I guess you're right. Thank you for the earrings; by the way, they're gorgeous."

Jotaro stops short for a moment, a small smile stretches across his face, "yeah? I got them as an apology of sorts. I'm sorry I upset you."

"So, you got me earrings?"

"Well, the cafe didn't go as planned, at least this did."

Noriaki blushes slightly, overjoyed by the fact that Jotaro won't be able to see it from where he stands, "so, are you going to fight me, or are you just going to stand there?"

"I'll only fight you if that's what you want." Is that what Noriaki wants? No, not really. Not now, at least, something in him told him that he needed to see Jotaro today.

"You know what? No, I don't want to fight you, at least not today." Hierophant glares at him like he's lost his mind.

Jotaro jogs to close the distance between them, "you sure?"

"Yeah, I- I wanted to apologize as well. I'm sorry I yelled at you." Noriaki admits quietly, refusing even to look Jotaro in the eye, "I was having a terrible day and combined with losing again, I just… I just lost it."

"No, I don't blame you. I was being an ass; I didn't even think how hard it'd be to come back every day for months on end."

Noriaki chuckles, "I was an idiot, I'll be the first to admit it. I probably shouldn't have done what I did looking back. I was just desperate for the title that I overlooked my wellbeing and the wellbeing of my Pokémon."

"So you left for a week then came back? That doesn't sound like a long enough break." Jotaro sounds concerned.

"I- I wanted to see you. As silly as it sounds, I do want to get to know you."

Jotaro blinks, "you do?" He glances at Hierophant, who looks just as confused.

Noriaki nods, "surprisingly. You're sweet when you want to be." The statement seemingly takes them both by surprise; a deep shade of red paints the shorter teen's cheeks after a moment, once he realizes what he said.

"Okay," Jotaro smiles, "okay, then we'll talk, have a better conversation than we did at the cafe. How does that sound?"

"That sounds great; I want to show you something. Are you able to leave?"

Jotaro checks the clock on the wall, and his shoulders slump, "I should stay here for a bit longer, uh, would you be comfortable giving me your phone number?"

Noriaki's eyes widen as a slight blush settles over his cheeks once again, "uh, yeah. Here, gimme your phone." Without hesitation, Jotaro's phone springs from his pocket and flies over to Noriaki. "Is this a Rotom phone?"

"Yeah, it is. It's pretty useful, but I don't use it for much." The redhead's quick to put his number into the phone, a feat only aided by the Rotom taking residence in the phone.

"So, I'll see you later, then?" Noriaki says hopefully while Jotaro leads him to the door.

Said teen smiles, "yeah, I'll see you later. I'll call you when I'm done here, alright?"

"Alright, um. I'll see you later then!" Noriaki calls as he finally ducks through the door, pulling Hierophant with him.

As he's attempting to leave, the nurse who greeted him when he came in calls him over again.

"That was fast. Do you need your Pokémon healed?" She asks, stealing a glance at Hierophant, seeing he's uninjured.

Noriaki smiles, "no, actually, we just talked this time."

"You seem pretty happy about that!" 

"I- yes, I am. And while it's been nice talking to you, I should be getting home." The last part comes rushed, as the redhead is a tad desperate to get away.

Speed walking out of the building catches many a curious glance, but not one person stops Noriaki in his haste to escape. Once he's far enough away, he stops to catch his breath.

Hierophant lets out a disgruntled noise once they've slowed to a stop.

"What's wrong with you?" Noriaki asks the Pokémon with a small smile. 

The serpent makes the same noise as before, just slightly louder, and throws his head back toward the building they just ran from. 

"Is it something about Jotaro?" Hierophant huffs and nods with a roll of his eyes. "Look, I know you don't trust him; I'm not quite there either, but he's trying; I'll give him that."

Hierophant rolls his eyes once again, then moves to curl up under a tree they'd stopped by.

Noriaki sighs, "well, I hadn't planned on staying here, but I guess I could get some practice drawing buildings." He sits down and rummages around in his bag for a moment, then pulls out a sketchbook and a few pens. "Alright, now come on out, Smeargle."

The little painter Pokémon takes a moment to take in her surroundings, then gives Noriaki a dopey grin, seeing as she's not in immediate danger.

"Hey, want to do some painting?" He asks quietly in an attempt at not scaring his Pokémon.

Smeargle practically jumps at the opportunity to paint something and takes to clinging to Noriaki's arm as he rips out a piece of paper for her.

"Easy, easy. Here you go," he hands her the piece of paper, "alright, what are you going to paint today?" He asks as he moves to sit next to his Pokémon.

The little painter Pokémon points to the field of flowers with a small excited bounce.

"The flowers, huh? You'll have to show me when you're done, alright?" Noriaki smiles as Smeargle sets out to paint the field of flowers, humming happily as she does. "Might as well let everyone else out." He mutters as he pulls out the rest of his Pokémon, who look at him curiously. "Go play; we're not fighting today."

Mismagius is the first to move and urges others to join her. After a moment, the other Pokémon follow her out into the field of flowers.

"Be careful; try not to ruin too much of the garden!" Noriaki calls, fondness evident in his voice, then trails back to the tree Hierophant's sleeping under, Smeargle at his side.

Hierophant opens one eye to glare at him as he approaches.

"Don't be like that; it's just me." The redhead laughs as he sits down next to the serpent, Smeargle taking up residence in his lap.

The scenery is peaceful for what it's worth, considering how many battles are likely to be going on within the building that's only meters away. Noriaki sighs and decides to look over Smeargle's shoulder to see how she's progressing. Along with the field of flowers, it seems like Smeargle has added the other Pokémon in as well.

Noriaki smiles, "hey, that's sweet. Are you painting your friends too?" Smeargle looks back and gives him an affirmative nod.

What peace they had is interrupted by the redhead's phone ringing; he nudges the Pokémon out of his lap and moves to take the call where it won't disturb her or Hierophant.

_"Hello?"_ Comes Jotaro's voice.

"Hello Jotaro, let me guess you're done for the day?"

Jotaro chuckles, _"that I am. Do you still want to meet up?"_

"Ah, yes, I'm not far actually; I never left the courtyard." The redhead steals a glance at his Pokémon, who are still happily playing in the field.

_ "Wait, really?" _

"Yeah. Stay by the door, and I'll come to get you; Smeargle is going to be mad if I drag her away before she finishes her painting."

_ "Your Pokémon likes to paint?" _

Noriaki laughs, "oh Arceus, have you ever met a Smeargle? Of course, she likes to paint."

_ "I- oh, um. Are you going to come here, or are we going to be on the phone all day?" _

"Right, right, I'll be there in a bit." He hangs up his phone and wanders back to Smeargle and Hierophant. "Keep an eye on them; I'm going to get Jotaro." The redhead whispers to the sleeping serpent before making his way back to the intimidating building.

Jotaro's waiting exactly where he said he'd be, standing tall and menacing beside the grand wooden door. Bright eyes fixate on Noriaki as he joins the other teen by the door, "you weren't lying about being close." He mutters, a small shade of blush finding its way to his cheeks.

"Did you think I was lying to you?" Noriaki asks, mildly offended.

Jotaro hesitates, "I just wasn't expecting you to wait for me."

"Oh, I didn't quite feel like leaving. But I did leave my Pokémon alone, so I should be getting back to them." The redhead smiles up at the other boy.

"Right, then lead the way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, they're talking again, but Noriaki still doesn't trust Jotaro


	4. Chapter 4

“So, we’re going to have to sit here for a while so that Smeargle can finish her painting; I hope you don’t mind,” Noriaki says once they reach the small clearing where his Pokémon are.

Jotaro smiles, “yeah, that’s fine. I’d let mine out, but I’m sure your Pokémon are probably scared of mine at this point.”

“That’s a fair assumption; I know Hierophant doesn’t trust you.”

Said serpent sends a glare Jotaro’s way.

“Right, so we’ll hold off on that.” The taller teen adds awkwardly.

Noriaki smiles and goes to sit next to Smeargle again, and gestures for Jotaro to join him. “So, how are you doing?” The redhead starts.

Jotaro groans. “I’m doing alright; being the Champion’s a pain in my ass, though.”

“You didn’t know what you were getting yourself into, huh?”

“No, I can’t say I did.”

“Well, it’s a lot of work, in case you hadn’t already noticed.”

“Oh, I noticed; I just don’t know why you would want to do this. You know, willingly.”

Noriaki chuckles, “look at it this way, I wanted to prove myself worthy of the title, to be the top of my game.”

“So, you wanted to do it to prove you could?”

“Yes, exactly that.”

They sit in comfortable silence for a while until Smeargle comes over and starts tugging on Noriaki’s sleeve.

“Did you need something?” The redhead asks when she doesn’t stop.

Jotaro chuckles at the sight, “I think she wants something.”

Smeargle flinches at the other teen’s voice but nods and points at the abandoned sketchbook.

“Oh, looks like we’re going to be here longer than I had anticipated, she either wants to start over on her painting, or she wants to paint something different,” Noriaki says, slight annoyance playing in his voice.

Jotaro sighs and leans against the tree he’s sat under, “it’s fine. I like being out here; it’s peaceful.”

Noriaki chuckles in agreement and hands Smeargle another piece of paper in exchange for her painting, “oh, that’s what she wanted to do. This looks like it’s finished, well except for line art, which she lets me do.”

“Your Pokémon wants you to help her paint?” Jotaro asks, seemingly unamused by the idea.

“It’s not that she wants me to help her; she wants me to add to it. We like making art together.”

“Huh.”

“Do you do anything fun with your Pokémon by any chance?”

Jotaro hesitates, “I have to admit that I haven’t had them all for very long. My mom practically pushed me out of the house once gramps gave me Star, she decided it was time for me to leave the house.”

“She kicked you out?” Noriaki blurts.

“No, I- I wouldn’t say she kicked me out. She just wanted me to do something besides sitting around all day.”

“Ah, so you were being lazy; I don’t blame her in the slightest.”

“Hey! Do I look lazy to you?” Jotaro says with a light-hearted punch to the other teen’s shoulder.

Noriaki chuckles, “no, you don’t, but it’s still funny that she did that; I had to beg my mother to let me leave. She thinks I’m wasting my life away chasing a stupid fantasy.”

“It’s not stupid. If it means something to you, then it’s worth going after.”

“Hm, somehow, that means a lot coming from you.”

Jotaro’s cheeks redden at the compliment, “I- thanks. I’m glad I left; I can’t stand her half the time. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom, but she’s annoying.”

“While that’s rude, it’s understandable. I don’t care much for my parents either.”

“I feel like there’s a lot to unpack there.”

“It’s nothing much, and just they’ve never truly cared about my interests. I haven’t seen them since I left on my journey with Hierophant. They haven’t even called.” Noriaki huffs, then moves to pick up his discarded pens and outlines parts of Smeargle’s painting. “Whether it’s the art or my Pokémon journey, they don’t support me.”

“That’s fucked. They should care about what you want.”

“Yeah, but they only care about what they want, but it’s been radio silence since I ran away. Not that I care.”

“Wait back up, and you ran away?”

Noriaki laughs, “I had to. It was the only way I could get this far.”

“Well, I’m glad you made it this far. Since we’ve had a chance to meet.” Jotaro turns to the other teen with a grin.

“I still don’t know why you like me that much.”

“It’s the fire in your eyes when we battle; every time we’ve fought, I’ve seen how much you want to win.”

“You could just let me then.”

Jotaro chuckles, “if I did that, I wouldn’t have an excuse to see you anymore.”

The statement takes Noriaki by surprise, “I- I don’t know how to respond to that.”

The taller teen shrugs, “then don’t.”

Smeargle decides it’s the appropriate time to break the awkward tension with her presence and presents another painting to Noriaki, whose eyes go wide at the sight of it.

“What is it? It can’t be that bad, can it?” Jotaro asks through a small laugh.

His voice finally gets Noriaki’s eyes away from the painting, “no, no, it’s not that, it’s beautiful, but it… Look, it’s us.”

Jotaro’s face pales as he takes the paper, “shit, you’re right.”

The two teens hadn’t even noticed that the Pokémon was painting them. On the paper is a lovely portrait of them smiling, their arms wrapped around each other in a hug. It’s undeniably sweet but odd to see.

“Why did she?” Jotaro croaks out after a moment.

“I- I don’t know, maybe she sees something we don’t,” Noriaki admits with hope lacing his words; despite his better judgment, he does want to date Jotaro and something small at the back of his head tells him that Jotaro wants the same thing.

“Heh, maybe. Earlier, you said you had something to show me?”

“Oh, right! Have you ever been to Kanto?”

Jotaro blinks, in his surprise, “I can’t say I have; what’s there that I have to see?”

“Cinnabar Island! An island surrounded by the sea. You said you like water Pokémon, so it could be fun to check out!” The redhead says, his voice full of excitement.

“Well, if you’re that excited, I’ll go with you.”

“Yes!” Noriaki jumps up after quickly putting the art supplies away and whistles for his Pokémon to come back; most of them are unhappy by Jotaro’s presence, but calm down once they see how excited their trainer is. He calls back every Pokémon except Skarmory. 

“What about that one?” Jotaro asks, pointing at the metal bird.

“How do you think we’re going to get there? Now come on!” Noriaki hoists himself onto Skarmory’s back and waits for Jotaro to do the same.

“I’m not getting on that thing.”

“You’re welcome to walk.”

“I can just take Star since it’s an island, right?”

Noriaki pauses, “that might be safer; I don’t know if Skarmory can carry Hierophant. Do you mind having a couple of other passengers?”

Jotaro shoots him the most genuine smile he’s given anyone in a while, “I’d love that.”


	5. Chapter 5

The walk to the water is nice enough, peaceful even, only interrupted by thoughts of what they could be doing instead.

"So- what do you want me to do with the painting?" Noriaki starts awkwardly, unsure of what the other teen will want with it.

Jotaro pauses mid-stride, taken aback by the question, "what do you mean, you're going to keep it right?"

"Well, I was planning on it, but I wasn't sure you wanted me to have it, though."

"Why not? Your Pokémon painted it."

"Yeah, she did, but we're barely even friends; the painting makes it look like we're dating."

Jotaro's face flushes red, "I see what you mean now."

"So you do want me to get rid of it?" Noriaki asks, almost disappointed at the outcome.

"No, I'll leave that decision up to you. I don't care either way."

Noriaki opens his mouth. He wants to say something, he really does, but he decides not to; there's not much use in arguing over a painting after all. They continue to the water, their once-peaceful walk somewhat soured by talk of the image.

"Okay, we'll go off here," Jotaro says suddenly, jumping off the path to a small ledge down below. "Are you coming?" He calls up to the visibly frightened redhead.

"Are you insane?" Said redhead asks with a shaky voice.

"I don't think so; this ledge is safe; I've been down here a few times."

"I'm not sure I trust you."

Jotaro laughs, "come on, if you jump, I'll catch you."

"Okay, so you are insane; I'm not jumping."

"If you don't, I'm leaving without you; I thought you wanted to go to Cinnabar?"

"I do!" Noriaki says quickly, "I just think there's a better way to get to the water from here."

"Well, this would have been a shortcut, but now we're just wasting time with you stalling."

"I'm still not jumping."

"If you jump, I'll introduce you to the Cinnabar Island Gym Leader."

That makes Noriaki pause, "you know the Gym Leader?"

"He's my grandpa's friend; I've met him a few times."

"Alright, fine, I'll jump, but if you don't catch me, I'll haunt you for the rest of your life."

"That implies that if I don't catch you, you're going to die."

"You don't know that I won't."

Noriaki gives the other teen a countdown before he jumps; the jump itself isn't bad; it's landing that's the problem. The redhead drops down at an awkward angle that somehow takes Jotaro down in the process. It takes them a minute to realize just what happened, but when they do, they scramble apart as though the other's on fire.

"I- I'm sorry, I may have misjudged the jump a bit," Noriaki says quietly, a hand over his mouth in an attempt to hide his growing blush.

Jotaro doesn't know how to respond; he won't admit it, but having the other teen on top of him for just a moment almost felt nice, "it's fine, don't worry about it."

Noriaki picks himself up, dusting his clothes off as he goes, "so, are we going to pretend like that never happened?"

"Unless you want to go around telling people you jumped on me, be my guest." Jotaro states with a flat tone.

"Right, so where to now?"

"Down there's the water; if we're fast about it, we can make it to the island before sunset."

Noriaki pauses, "Is there somewhere for us to stay on the island?"

"Yeah, I'm sure Avdol has a spare room or two, don't worry too much about it."

Noriaki follows Jotaro the rest of the way to the water, periodically checking to make sure Hierophant is still following behind. Once they reach the edge of the water, Jotaro releases Star and climbs onto his massive shell with minimal effort.

"You coming?" He calls to Noriaki, who's staring at the Water Pokémon with a look of pure wonder.

"First off, I don't know how to get on, and this is my first time seeing a Lapras this close."

Jotaro sighs and slides off Star, "okay fine, I can help you get on."

"Help me get on-?" Noriaki starts but gets cut off when Jotaro grabs him under his arms and hoists him onto Star's shell, "uh, thanks." He mutters before hiding his face in his hands to cover his blush.

Jotaro grins and gets back to where he was before, "is your snake coming?"

Noriaki uncovers his face and sees Hierophant glaring at him from the shoreline, "he doesn't like being in open water; last time we went somewhere by water, he was still a Servine and could sit in my lap."

"What I'm hearing is he's not coming."

"No, he's coming; I'm not going to abandon my Pokémon on the beach; he just needs some coaxing," He turns to the serpent, who looks incredibly unamused by the idea of going, "if you come with, I'll give you some of your favorite berries after dinner."

That gets Hierophant's attention, and with a huff, he slithers forward and joins the two trainers on Star's shell.

"Huh, well, whatever works, I guess, Star, we're going to visit Avdol, you remember where Cinnabar is, right?" Star chirps a happy response and sets off toward the island.

"I thought you said you've never been to Cinnabar?" Noriaki asks after a minute.

Jotaro hums, "I haven't, but Star has, and if he still knows how to get there, then we shouldn't have to worry about it."

A little smile forms on the redhead's face; this is by far the furthest he's ever been from home since running away; it's a thrilling prospect.

"Why did you want to go to Cinnabar, exactly?" Jotaro asks while absentmindedly staring off into the water.

Noriaki shrugs, "I'm not sure. I figured we'd see some Water Pokémon on the beach while we're there."

"Well, Avdol's specialty is Fire types; last I heard from my grandpa is that he raises Torchics."

"Oh! I've only seen pictures of Torchics! That's exciting!"

Seeing the way the redhead's eyes light up at the idea of seeing the Pokémon makes Jotaro melt a little, even if he doesn't know his name. The rest of the island journey is pleasant; they take turns shouting out different Pokémon they spot in the water until Jotaro spots land in the distance.

"Look, there it is." He says casually; it's a good thing too, as the sun began to set, and it's growing cold out.

After a while, Noriaki decides the cold night air combined with the water spray is next to unbearable, but he doesn't want to say anything. Instead, he stares out into the open water and deals with it.

"You're shivering," Jotaro comments, suddenly appearing behind the other teen.

Said redhead squeaks in surprise at Jotaro's sudden appearance, "y-yeah I am, it's freezing out here."

"It would've been warmer if we had left sooner."

"So, sue me for not wanting to jump."

"That's the whole reason we left so late."

"Shut up," Noriaki growls and resumes his shaking; maybe he should've jumped quicker. He tenses when he feels something drape around his shoulders as Jotaro moves to sit next to him. "Did you just give me your jacket?"

Jotaro looks away, "maybe."

"You idiot, aren't you cold?"

"Only a little" That's a lie; he started shivering the second the jacket left his shoulders.

"I can tell you're lying to me; come here, we can share your stupid jacket."

Mildly surprised by the blunt nature of the request, Jotaro does what he's told and Joins Noriaki in the outstretched portion of his jacket. It's nice being this close, Jotaro wasn't quite expecting this outcome, but he's pretty happy it's what happened.

"Look," Jotaro says quietly, pointing to glowing lights under the water, "there's a school of Chinchou and Lanturn below us." 

"They're so pretty." Noriaki breathes.

"Yeah."  _ Just like you _ goes unsaid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated!


	6. Chapter 6

Noriaki’s grown used to waking up in a bed that’s different from the one before, but this time is different; he wakes up to laughter of all things, low and timbre. It takes a moment for him to register the foreign weight on his chest, but once he does, he scrambles back and finally lays eyes on a very frightened Torchic.

"My apologies, I was just looking for her; it seems she snuck in the house while I had my back turned.” The laughing man says with the same low timbre, “we didn’t have the chance to meet yesterday; my name is Mohammed Avdol; Jotaro brought you here, do you remember that?”

He vaguely remembers falling asleep in the open water, so he nods, not knowing what else to do. “Speaking of Jotaro, do you know where he is?”

“I believe he’s out by the beach; I’m sure he wouldn’t mind the company if you were to join him.” Avdol smiles and scoops the Torchic off Noriaki’s chest, “you’re welcome to go then.”

“Thank you, Mr. Avdol.” 

Avdol only chuckles as he watches the redhead race out the door and to the beach, his Serperior following close behind him.

“Jotaro!” Noriaki calls once he spots the other teen, “you just left me there, how could you?” He asks with mock annoyance.

Jotaro laughs, “you were safe. I wouldn’t leave you asleep just anywhere.”

“I woke up to a Torchic on my chest; I  _ wasn’t  _ safe!” 

“I didn’t think you’d be scared of a tiny Torchic; I guess I was wrong.” Jotaro grins before turning back to the water.

“Oh, very funny, I’d like to see you react the same way when it happens to you, anyway, what are you looking at?”

“Hm? Oh, Star’s out in the water; I’m watching him to make sure nothing bad happens.”

“What do you think’s going to happen? Star’s a powerful Pokémon; whatever happens, I’m sure he can fight it off.”

Jotaro huffs, “that’s not the problem, I know he’s strong, but out there, Star’s a natural target.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, this isn’t exactly the natural habitat of a Lapras, and he’s not exactly a normal Lapras.” 

“Not a normal Lapras?”

Jotaro turns to the redhead, confused by his question, “you did know that Star is different from normal Lapras because he’s purple, right?”

Noriaki pauses, letting the full weight of what the other teen just said sink in as a deep blush settles over his cheeks, “uh, I can’t say I did.” The blush on his cheeks grows deeper as Jotaro starts laughing, though this time not out of embarrassment but endearment.

The taller teen stops laughing with a low wheeze and stops a moment to catch his breath, “oh Arceus, sorry, I thought you knew about shiny Pokémon.”

“I did! I- I just didn’t know that Star was shiny.”

“Well, now you do, wait, that means you haven’t seen a normal Lapras, how in the world have you not seen a normal Lapras?”

“I have no idea, to be honest with you.”

Jotaro chuckles, a noise Noriaki’s come to call nice, a familiar thing, a happy little noise. The redhead can’t help but smile when he hears it, “well, Avdol has been waiting to question me since we got in so late last night; I had to carry you in, you know.”

Noriaki’s face flushes, “thank you for that, carrying me in. I mean, I don’t remember falling asleep.”

“Don’t worry about it; we made it regardless; you just fell asleep sooner than I had anticipated.” Jotaro says with a sigh, “anyway, we should probably go talk to Avdol.” He smiles then whistles so loud that the other teen has to cover his ears. 

“I did tell you I’ve already talked to Avdol, right?” Noriaki asks during their trek back to the Gym Leader’s house.

“You did, but did you tell him why we’re here?”

The redhead pauses, “I don’t think I even told him my name.”

“Then, we should go talk to him.” Jotaro once again doesn’t want to admit that he doesn’t know the redhead’s name.

The two of them re-enter Avdol’s house and are met with the Fire-type leader smiling as a man with a pillar of silver hair talks animatedly from across the table.

“Uh, Mr. Avdol? We’re back.” Noriaki announces awkwardly, drawing the attention of both Avdol and the other man.

Avdol smiles at them, “welcome back, boys; how was the beach?”

“It was fine; who’s this?” Jotaro asks, vaguely gesturing to the man at the table.

“Oh, that’s-”

“Jean-Pierre Polnareff, nice to meet you!” Pillar hair says, getting up from the table to offer the teens his hand in a handshake, which neither takes.

“As I was saying before, I was interrupted,” Avdol continues, sending a glare the other man’s way, “Jean here is my husband and is the Steel-type Gym Leader over in Olivine City; if memory serves me right, you both should have battled him at some point.” The teens pale and shoot each other a look that says neither of them remember fighting this guy at all.

Noriaki offers an awkward laugh, “well, uh, I’m Noriaki Kakyoin, it’s nice to meet you again, I guess?” He seems wildly apprehensive about it.

Jotaro looks delighted for a moment before joining his redheaded friend in his weary look, “so, the two of you are married, but you live in Johto,” he points to Polnareff, “and you live here, in Kanto, how does that work?”

Avdol offers a hearty chuckle, “well, it’s not easy, that’s for sure; Jean sneaks away any chance he can and comes here. I would leave, but I’m afraid there are too many Pokémon under my care for me to leave them be for that long.”

“That makes sense, Mr. Avdol; Jotaro told me that you wanted to talk to us?” Noriaki brings up, quickly changing the subject.

Avdol hums, “ah, that’s right, while I do enjoy the fact that the two of you came to visit, I would like something in return for letting you stay here.”

Jotaro bites back a groan, “do you want us to help with the Torchics or something?”

“Oh no, what I desire from the two of you, is a Pokémon battle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a battle chapter that will be set up a lot like the first one was!
> 
> Comments and Kudos are always appreciated, I respond to every comment I receive!


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while, oops. The entirety of this chapter is dedicated to my friend Pax who's helped me a lot with motivation for this project.

"A Pokémon battle, is that it?" Jotaro huffs, "how hard could it be?"

Noriaki groans, "maybe for you! You have type advantage here, Jotaro."

Avdol smiles, "I have faith that both of you will be able to beat me, though Noriaki will have a much harder time doing so." The redhead groans once again; he knows that he's not going to have an easy time fighting Avdol.

"Are you sure, MoMo? You don't-" Polnareff starts, yet is cut off by a hand clasped over his mouth and a delicate shush.

"Worry not; you'll both be able to beat me, I'm sure of it."

And so their party moves to the Cinnabar Gym, a warm, brightly lit building teeming with life. Noriaki knows how this Gym is supposed to work, three sets of three doors, all sectioned off with a different number of trainers behind them. The Gym's idea is to test the trainers' intuition that care to challenge it as if they mess up; there's a good chance they may not make it to the end.

"Are we going through this normally, or did you just bring us here, so we don't break anything?" Noriaki asks, surveying the room.

"You are going through normally. I would like to see how you approach the challenges of my Gym, though I would like for you to go through together."

"You want us to  _ what?"  _ Both Jotaro and Noriaki shout in unison.

Avdol chuckles, "I would like to see how well the two of you work together, though if you'd like to decline, you're welcome to find somewhere else to stay." He finishes with a cheeky grin as he turns to retreat into the Gym.

The two teens stare at each other a moment, then, without warning, Jotaro turns and strides up to the first set of doors, leaving Noriaki to catch up.

"So, what are we going to do strategy-wise?" The redhead asks, looking up to the set of doors in front of him.

Jotaro shrugs "we're going in there and beating shit up; it can't be that hard."

"Actually, yes, it can; you seem to forget that we're in a Fire Type Gym."

"I'm aware; what does that have to do with anything?"

"Jotaro, literally nothing on my team is effective against fire. In fact, most of my Pokémon are weak to fire."

"And mine aren't?"

"Most of yours are water, so that's kind of a given. Yours, by default, are stronger than the Pokémon here, or at least you can deal double damage."

"Right, but you're a strong trainer too; I believe in you."

Noriaki can't stop the rising blush on his cheeks when he notices it's there, "uh- yeah, I know I am, but that doesn't mean we don't have to strategize if we don't, I won't have any Pokémon left by the time we reach Avdol."

Jotaro groans, "shit, you're right, fine; what's the game plan?"

"I'm going to try and help in any way I can while you focus on doing the real damage since, in this scenario, my team is better for support than anything else."

"Can you use healing moves?"

Noriaki sighs, "the healing moves I have only work for my Pokémon, but I have a lot of healing items on me."

"Wait, why did you never use healing items while fighting me?" Jotaro asks, baffled.

"I don't like using healing items in fights; it feels like cheating; all the potions and other things I have in my bag are from trainers I met along the way. I only use them when my team gets hurt outside of battle."

"Doesn't Hierophant know Giga Drain?"

"That's different, that's a move, something that Hierophant learned on his own; who am I to tell him not to use it?"

"Well, you're the one who tells him to use it, right?"

"Yes, but that is his move. He learned it; he gets to use it. Potions and other various healing items are outside support that I consider cheating in battle. If you're going to fight, you do it right."

"That- makes a lot of sense; we'll only use them if we absolutely have to."

"Works for me, are we done talking? we've wasted a lot of time already."

Jotaro shrugs, "I'm ready if you are."

"Right." Noriaki steps around his- his friend? Is Jotaro a friend or just an acquaintance? The redhead really hadn't thought about it before. For now, he'll stick to calling Jotaro by his name. He steps around Jotaro to get a better look at the first set of doors. "Do these have to be this intimidating?"

He gestures to the triple set of intricately carved doors, each with a different Pokémon on them. The one on the far left is a Chimchar, in the middle is a Pignite, and the last is Charizard. 

"That's odd." He continues, taking a few more fleeting glances at the doors before turning to Jotaro, "I think I figured it out!"

Jotaro raises an eyebrow, "is that so? Well, don't just stand there, tell me."

"Pushy; anyway, I don't think this is a test of intuition at all! I think it's to test if we're paying attention to the doors!"

"What do you mean?"

"Look at them; there's a first, middle, and final evolution Pokémon. Either they're trying to trick us by hiding the easiest battle behind one of the other doors, but I think we should go in the Chimchar door because out of the three, it's the weakest."

"How did you-" Jotaro studies the doors again, finding that his redheaded friend is right, "okay so, if when we go in, there are more trainers than we bargained for, then we know that they're trying to trick us with the Pokémon on the doors." He smiles, "that's actually really fucking smart; good job."

Noriaki smiles; he knows this plan has a very good chance at failing, but there are three sets of these doors, so there's plenty of room for trial and error. He looks to Jotaro, who hasn't moved since giving the compliment, "why are you just standing there?"

"I want you to go in first; you figured this shit out after all."

"Oh- uh, alright." Noriaki straightens his back and pushes into the first room, expecting to be wrong and be greeted by a whole horde of trainers, but to his relief, there's only two.

"Oh, someone finally came to challenge us! You must've figured out the doors, huh?" The female trainer calls, a look of excitement on her face.

"Most challengers go through the Charizard door first, not sure why; it's pretty obvious once you realize there's Pokémon on the doors." the male trainer adds.

Jotaro huffs, "so Noriaki was right."

The redhead freezes; that's the first time he's heard Jotaro say his name. He stands there, completely dumbfounded for a few short moments before he can even think to respond, "I guess those other trainers didn't take the time to think about it then."

"Right, well, we should probably fight, or Avdol will be upset with us; he did let us know that you're going through together, so does a double battle sound good to you? We haven't done something like this before." The female trainer says in a shy tone.

"Oh, yes! Let's do that!" Noriaki exclaims, quickly calling for Scolipede to take the floor first.

Jotaro allows Star to take the field, intimidating the two trainers in front of them with a glare, "let's see what you've got." He says with a grin that only serves to intimidate the trainers more. The female trainer sends out a Flareon and the male a Magcargo, two Pokémon that'll be relatively easy to beat.

Scolipede looks at Star, to Noriaki, then back at Star, trying to figure out just what's going on. "Scolipede, it's alright, we're fighting with him this time; Star isn't going to hurt you!" Noriaki calls to the large bug, smiling as he visibly calms down and prepares to fight, "right, now use Toxic on that Flareon!" The bug does as he's told and scuttles across the room to poison the Flareon before its trainer can react.

"Good job, now it's my turn." Jotaro smirks, shouting for Star to use Hydro Pump, which takes down the Magcargo in one hit, forcing the male trainer to release the only other Pokémon he has, a Camerupt "that was surprisingly easy."

"You're saying that as if you're not the Champion of the next region over, your team is really strong, Jotaro," Noriaki says, completely disregarding the type advantage in favor of trying to distract their opponents with his words. 

His plan works exactly as planned; the trainers in front of them look at each other in horror, leaving Noriaki able to ask Scolipede to attack and take down the Flareon while they're distracted. "Hey! That's not fair!" The woman yells, seething.

"It's not my fault you got distracted while in battle. I just took advantage of that."

"You're the one who distracted us!"

"Hm, I believe that's not my problem, now is it?"

The woman grumbles, quickly deciding that Noriaki's right, and sends out her final Pokémon, a Torkoal, which seems to suck all moisture from the room as it enters the battle.

"That was a neat trick you had there; why'd you never do that with me?" Jotaro asks with a cheeky grin that makes Noriaki turn away in shame.

"Well- I tried the first few times I fought you, but you never responded, so I figured I might as well stop trying to distract you that way." Noriaki mumbles, just barely loud enough for Jotaro to hear. While he's distracted, the female trainer takes the moment of opportunity to have her Pokémon use Flamethrower on Scolipede.

"Enough chit chat, let's fight already!" She calls, much angrier than before.

"Arceus, shut up!" Jotaro yells, taking her by surprise, "Star, Surf."

Star lets out a few happy chirps before summoning a colossal wave that takes out both Fire Pokémon and significantly damages Scolipede. Noriaki quickly gathers their winnings from the two stunned trainers before fleeing the room.

"Why'd you do that?" Noriaki growls once they're both in the small in-between room that leads to the next set of doors.

Jotaro blinks, "do what, win?"

"No, why'd you use Surf knowing it'd hit my Pokémon too? It was reckless."

"I- wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, that woman yelling made me mad, it reminded me of back when I was in school, I- I just wanted to leave. Is your Scolipede alright?"

"Oh, yes, he's alright, I wasn't planning on relying on him a lot to fight in here, so it's alright." Noriaki says, completely baffled, "are  _ you  _ alright? You're the one who supposedly wanted to get out of there so badly."

"I- "I'll be fine, don't worry about it."

"Whatever, I'll bug you about it later then. Anyway, it looks like we're going through the Charmander door next."

The next couple of battles go as planned, with Jotaro and Noriaki coming out on top each time, with only a few casualties along the way. As they approach the last battle of their day, they each only have four Pokémon with them.

Before them stands a large door, the last thing keeping them from Avdol. It's gigantic, the metal stretching up to the high ceiling, all of it covered in intricate carvings with a Blaziken in the middle, standing proud and intimidating for all trainers to see.

"We should probably revive our Pokémon before we go in so that he doesn't beat us immediately," Jotaro mutters eventually after they've been standing, staring at the door for at least five minutes.

Noriaki jumps at the sudden break in the silence, "yeah, I've got some Max Revives on me, more than enough for both of our Pokémon. Do you know what he has on his team? That might help us prepare better."

"I know he's got a Blaziken; that's probably why it's on the door; other than that, we're going in blind. Do you know what you're going to lead with?"

"Unless you had any other ideas, I was going to lead with Espeon and try to confuse his first Pokémon since she's one of my fastest."

"That sounds good; I think I'm going to lead with Carracosta; if we're lucky, I can get one of his Pokémon trapped in a whirlpool before she goes down."

"Your Carracosta's a girl? That's incredibly rare. Did you know that the species is mostly male?" Noriaki looks up from where he'd been digging in his bag to see that Jotaro's wearing a blank expression, "right, of course, you knew that you're the one who likes Water Pokémon, it was stupid of me to mention, forget I said anything." He goes back to digging in his bag, now conscious of the fact that Jotaro's staring at him.

"Sorry, I'm just surprised you know that not many people are interested enough in Water Pokémon to know how rare a female Carracosta is," Jotaro admits after a beat of silence, a small smile gracing his face.

"I read an article about Water Pokémon conservation a while back; it was interesting enough to remember; it mentioned that with the majority of the species being male, it's hard to gauge how they'll fare as the years go on. Ah found them!" Noriaki triumphantly pulls a small pouch from within his bag and shakes four jagged stones into his hand, "here, you can use these." He continues, giving Jotaro two of the stones."

"I don't even know how these things work; you called them Max Revives earlier?"

"Oh, they're really easy to use; let your two fainted Pokémon out of their Pokéballs." Jotaro shoots him a wary look but does as he's told and lets his Cofigrigus and Lycanroc out, only to see them slump against the ground.

"That's only mildly depressing; what now?"

"Now, you hold the revive to their foreheads, it'll take a minute for it to work, but they should be back to full health soon enough."

"Have you used these before?"

"Yes, they work, despite how they look."

Jotaro scoffs, "it's just a rock; how the hell is this going to work?"

"Do you want me to use it first?" Noriaki asks, seeing how apprehensive Jotaro is about using the medicine.

"Yeah, sure, whatever."

Noriaki smiles, "alright," he lets Mismagius and Smeargle out, "come here, get a closer look; you won't be able to see from over there."

Jotaro moves with trepidation, going to kneel next to Noriaki and his Pokémon, "alright, I'm here."

"Here." Noriaki presses another Max Revive into Jotaro's hand, seeing as he abandoned the others next to his Pokémon. "Press it to her forehead." He continues, gently guiding Jotaro's hand to Mismagius' forehead.

"Wait, I'm doing it? What am I-" Jotaro starts but gets cut off as Mismagius begins to stir.

"Look, you did it." Noriaki says softly, watching as his Pokémon perks up more and more to the point where she's fully healed, "see, they work fine."

"That's actually really cool. Can they be used again? It's just a rock, right?"

"No, unfortunately, they only work once, but they're useful in situations like this," Noriaki says smoothly despite wanting to run away.

Jotaro quickly scurries over to revive his fallen Pokémon, a small smile gracing his face as he watches them get up. It's- well, it's really nice to see someone Noriaki thought was too rough and unforgiving with his Pokémon be so relieved upon seeing them on their feet again. Noriaki likes seeing him smile; as rare as it is, seeing him smile always seems to send a small pang of affection through the redhead, something he can't explain.

"Are you done over there?" Jotaro calls loudly, breaking Noriaki from his thoughts.

"Oh, yeah, I'm done," Noriaki replies, quickly pulling his Pokémon back once he's done healing Smeargle. "I've got an idea."

"Yeah? Let's hear it."

"It may be a bit of a stretch, but Smeargle can copy moves of other Pokémon; there's a chance that if we keep her on her feet long enough, she can copy four of your Pokémon's moves so we can both stand a chance in there."

"And you've got all those other tricks, like the poisoning and confusion moves. It sounds like it could work."

"But if it doesn't?"

Jotaro hums, "this would be a last resort move, but your Mismagius knows Destiny Bond, right?

"She does," Noriaki replies slowly, cautiously.

"So, if we're in a bit of a bind, send her out and have her use that, she can still do a bit of damage, then if she goes down, she can take the other Pokémon with her."

"Oh! I was already planning on that, it's a tad morbid to think about, but I've used that tactic a few times."

"Hey, it's alright; I know you love your Pokémon; you probably only use that move when you have to." Jotaro says gently, crossing the small distance between them, "I know it probably doesn't seem like much coming from me because I know you don't trust me, but I know you're a good trainer."

Noriaki's face feels like it's on fire; the same thing happens every time he receives a compliment, genuine or not, "right- thanks. You're a good trainer, too, just different than I first thought."

"Different?"

"When you first beat me, all I saw was someone cold and ruthless; all your calls were cold and monotone; I didn't understand how anyone could treat their team like that." Jotaro shoots him a stern look, "hey, don't look at me like that. I'm not done, dumbass." He takes a deep breath before continuing, "you're not cold, or ruthless, you do care in your own way, you- you love your Pokémon, even if you're too stubborn to admit it."

Jotaro stands there, completely dumbfounded for a few minutes before he remembers to respond. "I- I do love them; I didn't catch them on my own; they were all strays from grandpa's trading company. They were all abandoned either by the trainer who decided to trade them away or by whoever was supposed to pick them up. They're all misfits who deserve a shot at being part of a winning team."

"Oh-"

"Don't- don't say anything; we'll talk about it later."

Noriaki's shoulders slump, just as he starts to get to know the guy, he begins to pull away again. "Right, do you want to push the button, or should I?" He gestures to the small pedestal to his left, to the button that'd presumably open the door.

"Go for it," Jotaro mutters, turning away from the door.

Noriaki shoots Jotaro a sad look that he hopes the other teen can't see, then presses the fire-shaped button and watches as the intimidating gate slowly ascends into the ceiling, leaving a long torch-lit corridor.

Jotaro glances briefly at Noriaki, then steps into the corridor and starts making his way to the arena, not even waiting for the redhead to catch up with him. 

They exit a few minutes later into a larger torch-lit chamber that has to be somewhere underneath the island, considering its size.

"Ah! You boys finally made it! I was beginning to wonder how long I'd have to wait down here; I'm sure you've done well thus far, considering I know which doors you've passed through on your way down here." Avdol says once he hears them approach, keeping the same level of calm that he's always had.

Noriaki jumps, "you knew?"

"But of course, the other Trainers report to me after all, you were able to figure out the doors quicker than I anticipated, and because of that, I figured you'd both be here far sooner than now."

"We were- um, we were talking." Jotaro says, stumbling over his sentence, which causes him to look away and pull his hat over his face, something Noriaki hasn't seen him do before, "whatever, let's just get this over with, how are we fighting?"

Avdol lets out a hearty chuckle, "well, it is two against one; either I fight with two of my Pokémon, or the two of you mutually decide who's fighting."

Noriaki glances at Jotaro, "hey, we should do this together, we have a solid plan, and it'll be easier to do it together."

"I was thinking the same thing, ready?" Jotaro asks despite being incredibly nervous for the fight, despite it being wildly easier with Noriaki at his side.

"Ready."

"We're doing this together!" Jotaro yells over to Avdol, who smiles, knowing he's about to lose.

"Alright then, let it be known that we won't be holding back."

"Then we won't either!"

Avdol releases two of his Pokémon with a quick flourish, a Blaziken and a Ninetails. "You both may attack first."

Noriaki fumbles for the correct Pokéball but is able to get Espeon out in a timely manner. Jotaro keeps to what they agreed to and sends his Carracosta out first.

Within a moment, they've both called out their first move, Espeon confusing the Ninetails, and Carracosta gets a good hit on the Blaziken; surprisingly, neither of them move, merely taking the hit due to Avdol's command.

The battle lasts for what feels like forever, with both teens pulling out any trick they can think of to ward off the Gym Leader's Pokémon, most of which work out in their favor, others result in the loss of their Pokémon.

Eventually, all three trainers are down to their final Pokémon. Noriaki with Hierophant, Jotaro with Star, and Avdol with his Blaziken, affectionately nicknamed Magician.

"Jotaro, hold on a moment; I've got an idea," Noriaki says quickly before Jotaro has the chance to call out an attack.

Jotaro huffs, "what is it?"

"Okay, hear me out; I'm going to have Hierophant tie Magician up with Vine Whip while you and Star go in to finish this."

"Won't that hurt Hierophant?"

"Not much; the vines are easily detachable and don't do much damage. Besides, water only does half damage to him."

"Are you sure?"

"It's either this, or this keeps going longer than it has to."

"Okay, fine, tell me when."

Noriaki nods and calls for Hierophant to bind Magician, just as they had discussed, "Jotaro  _ now!"  _ He shouts, prompting Jotaro into motion.

"Star, Hydro Pump!" Jotaro yells in a harsh tone that makes the redhead's expression crumble; he could never talk like that to his Pokémon.

Once the Hydro Pump hits, the only thing keeping Magician standing is Hierophant's vines, "oh- uh- sorry, Hierophant, you can let Magician go now." Hierophant does as he's told, letting the other Pokémon fall to the ground.

"Well then, the two of you work very well together. I'm proud of your teamwork and communication during our battle." Avdol says with a warm smile as he calls Magician back, "I'm delighted to present you with the Molten Badge for your work here today." He continues, holding out a badge for each of them.

"Wait, but- we didn't go through your gym normally; if anything, this would be considered cheating, wouldn't it?" Noriaki asks in a grim tone.

"I was the one who challenged you to go through my Gym together; it's only fair you be compensated for your time."

Jotaro and Noriaki share a look, then hesitantly take their badges; neither of them feels like they deserve them, "so, do we need to do anything else or-" Jotaro starts but is cut off by Noriaki elbowing him in the ribs.

Avdol lets out a hearty laugh, "no, no, you may leave, but first, allow me to heal your Pokémon." 

The teens leave after their Pokémon are all back to full health and decide to go to the beach so Star can have more time in the water. In moments like this, Noriaki remembers that there's far more to Jotaro than how he battles; Jotaro seems content looking out at the water where his partner plays with more of his team and a few other wild Pokémon.

"They're lucky to have you, you know," Noriaki says softly, though he regrets the sentiment when Jotaro screws his hat down over his face to hide it, another thing Noriaki just noticed he does. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Jotaro grunts, "it's fine; I just wasn't expecting a compliment from you."

"I've complimented you before, haven't I?"

Maybe he has, but this is the first one that's gotten a genuine reaction from the normally stoic teen, "I just- I don't know how to connect with them." He admits quietly, "I do want what's best for them, but I just- I don't know, it's probably stupid now that I say it out loud, the Champion of the Johto region doesn't know how to bond with his Pokémon, what a joke, right?" He sounds so frustrated with himself, Noriaki can't help but take pity on him.

"Hey, it's not that bad," the redhead says with a small smile which he hopes comes off as genuine, "here, call Star back."

"What? Why?" 

"You'll see, just call him back." Jotaro raises an eyebrow in question but calls Star back regardless, leaving the teens to wait in silence on the beach until he returns. Once he does, Noriaki confidently strides up to his side and holds a hand out for him to smell before petting him, that serene, calm smile never leaving his face. "Come here, dumbass." He calls over his shoulder, beckoning Jotaro closer. "Gimme your hand."

"What?" Jotaro all but snarls, taking a step back to shoot Noriaki a scandalized look.

"Arceus, I'm not going to steal your hand; come on, stop acting like a rabid Zigzagoon." Noriaki chuckles as Jotaro pulls his hat down again, moving to Noriaki's side once more and complying with his previous request, "first you need to let him smell you, he's like a Skitty, just a lot bigger and lives in the water."

Jotaro snorts at the analogy but lets his hand be guided towards Star's face, allowing him to pet the Pokémon for the first time, "oh- it was that easy this whole time."

"Hey, don't beat yourself up about this. Pokémon are weird; it's not easy interacting with some of them. But, I believe in you; you've already given these Pokémon are already so incredibly lucky to have you." 

"You're just saying that because, you know, that's what I want to hear. I know I'm horrible with them."

"Hey, that's not true, you're a tad hard on them in battle, but I can tell you care about them."

Jotaro can't help but smile at that, he may not have the best relationship with them, but at least it's obvious he cares. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"I think that's the first time you've thanked me for something!" Noriaki cheers, moving his hand away from Jotaro's, blush painting his face at the somewhat intimate gesture.

"Well then, you know I mean it."

"I guess you're right-"

Right at that moment is when Star decides it's time to be playful and steal Jotaro's hat, retreating into the ocean with the item in his mouth.

"Hey! Come back with that. It has my Gym badges on it. You can't lose those, Star!" Jotaro yells as he tries to chase after the Pokémon, much to Noriaki's amusement.

"It's your fault for storing your badges on your hat! I didn't even know they were there!" Noriaki shouts, just loud enough for Jotaro to hear.

"You didn't know?" Jotaro says as he abandons his hat and comes back to shore.

"Jotaro, I hate to break it to you, but you're too damn tall for me to see your hat." 

"Oh- uh- sorry. You probably could've seen them while we were coming here the other day."

"It was too dark."

"Right."

Jotaro finally turns to face his companion, letting Noriaki have his first good look at him and- Arceus, he's pretty. Noriaki already knew this, but it's so much better seeing him without his hat. His eyes are what Noriaki focuses on because they're gorgeous, a deep blue-green color that Noriaki hasn't caught on anyone else. It's fitting that Jotaro's eyes only make him that much prettier.

Wait- what's he thinking? Sure, Jotaro's attractive, but they're barely acquaintances. As much as Noriaki wants a relationship with him, whether as friends or something more, he knows it's not a likely outcome.

"Um, well, it's getting late, and if you don't get out of those clothes, you're probably going to get sick, so we should probably go back," Noriaki mutters, not daring to meet Jotaro's eyes.

"Okay, you can go on ahead; it's going to take me a few minutes to get them back in."

"Alright, see you in a bit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are highly appreciated! I read and respond to every comment I get!
> 
> (I also promise I won't disappear for four months again)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gay panic, the chapter

"So, do the two of you have plans for today?" Avdol asks over breakfast the next morning, acutely aware of the teens avoiding each other's gaze.

Noriaki hums, "maybe take a look around the Seafoam Islands?"

"Those islands aren't much to look at, I'm afraid, but if you'd like to go, I won't stop you."

"I need to get back to Johto today; I'm still the Champion over there," Jotaro says through a bite of food, doing his best to avoid Noriaki's gaze.

Noriaki stands to take care of his plate, "do you think we have enough time to see the islands, Jotaro? I've heard they're beautiful."

"No, seriously, I need to get back."

"Please?"

They wind up going because Jotaro can't seem to say no to his redheaded friend.

Noriaki's eyes light up the second he sees the islands come into view, "thanks for humoring me by taking me out here; I appreciate it."

The tone of his voice alone is enough to make Jotaro's face burn with blush, "y-yeah, no problem, I've already been gone this long; what's another hour or so?"

"That's the spirit!" The redhead calls with a laugh Jotaro can hear loud and clear over the crashing waves, a sound he never wants to forget. "Ah, looks like Avdol was right. They're not much to see, are they?"

"Hm?" Jotaro says, finally snapping back to the conversation at hand, "yeah, but you were right about them being pretty. I've heard that trainers camp out here all the time, not sure why."

"It'd be a nice place to camp! I'm sure some people enjoy fishing for Pokémon."

"Let me guess, that's not something you'd enjoy?"

"I've never even thought about using a Water Pokémon, so I can't say I'd enjoy fishing for one."

"How have you been getting around? There's a lot of terrain between gyms that you can only get past with a Pokémon."

"It's amazing what the right amount of money can get you."

Jotaro snorts, taken aback by the statement, "so you pay someone to help you across?"

"Essentially, yes." Noriaki admits after a moment, "look, I know it's a waste of money, but every trainer I've come across has given me a considerable amount of money when I beat them, that and I save money from not buying items. So I can afford passage."

"No, it's smart that you're using your resources without using a Pokémon you don't want to, but I will agree that it's a waste of money."

"What would you rather I do? Call you to take me somewhere?"

"Sure, why not."

"Wait "So, do the two of you have plans for today?" Avdol asks over breakfast the next morning, acutely aware of the teens avoiding each other's gaze.

Noriaki hums, "maybe take a look around the Seafoam Islands?"

"Those islands aren't much to look at, I'm afraid, but if you'd like to go, I won't stop you."

"I need to get back to Johto today; I'm still the Champion over there," Jotaro says through a bite of food, doing his best to avoid Noriaki's gaze.

Noriaki stands to take care of his plate, "do you think we have enough time to see the islands, Jotaro? I've heard they're beautiful."

"No, seriously, I need to get back."

"Please?"

They wind up going because Jotaro can't seem to say no to his redheaded friend.

Noriaki's eyes light up the second he sees the islands come into view, "thanks for humoring me by taking me out here. I appreciate it."

The tone of his voice alone is enough to make Jotaro's face burn with blush, "y-yeah, no problem, I've already been gone this long; what's another hour or so?"

"That's the spirit!" The redhead calls with a laugh Jotaro can hear loud and clear over the crashing waves, a sound he never wants to forget. "Ah, looks like Avdol was right; they're not much to see, are they?"

"Hm?" Jotaro says, finally snapping back to the conversation at hand, "yeah, but you were right about them being pretty; I've heard that trainers camp out here all the time, not sure why."

"It'd be a nice place to camp! I'm sure some people enjoy fishing for Pokémon."

"Let me guess, that's not something you'd enjoy?"

"I've never even thought about using a Water Pokémon, so I can't say I'd enjoy fishing for one."

"How have you been getting around? There's a lot of terrain between gyms that you can only get past with a Pokémon."

"It's amazing what the right amount of money can get you."

Jotaro snorts, taken aback by the statement, "so you pay someone to help you across?"

"Essentially, yes." Noriaki admits after a moment, "look, I know it's a waste of money, but every trainer I've come across has given me a considerable amount of money when I beat them, that and I save money from not buying items, so I can usually afford passage."

"No, it's smart that you're using your resources without using a Pokémon you don't want to, but I will agree that it's a waste of money."

"What would you rather I do? Call you to take me somewhere?"

"Sure, why not."

"Wait, really?"

"Uh- only if you want to, it'll save you money at least."

Noriaki gives him one of the biggest smiles he can muster, "honestly, yeah, if you'll have me, that sounds nice, nicer than what I've been doing too."

"Y-yeah just, call me whenever." Jotaro chokes out with the hope that he doesn't sound too desperate. "A-also, um, there's a weird event my grandpa's holding in Unova later this week, he wants me to go, but I don't want to go alone-"

"I'll go with you."

"You don't even know what it is."

"I don't care! I've never been to Unova; whatever it is can't be that bad."

"It's a masquerade ball."

"I take it back."

"So, you're not going?"

"No, no, I'm going. I'll have to find a mask." Noriaki muses, thinking about what he could do for a mask.

Jotaro sighs in relief; at least he'll have someone to talk to at this stupid event, "um, I can get you a mask, but- do you have a suit or something you can wear? This is going to be kinda- formal."

"I don't know where I'd even look to find one."

"You'd be surprised what you can find in Goldenrod, but I can help you look when I'm off later?"

Noriaki lets out a shocked gasp that's quickly covered up by the waves, much to his relief, "you want to help me?"

"Only if you want me to! I could just point you in the right direction, I thought, I mean you're my friend, so I figured-" Jotaro's cut off by another strangled gasp from the redhead that's loud enough to break through the waves.

"You- I'm your friend?"

"I thought so? If you'd rather not be-"

"No! No, of course, I'm your friend, I just-" he pauses to look at Jotaro, who seems surprised, "I've never had a friend before, is all." Hierophant lets out a disgruntled noise as he uses his tail to nudge his trainer, "well, a human friend." Especially not one that's this nice to be around.

"I've never had a friend either; Star hardly counts. I do love him, though." Jotaro lifts a hand to pet Star who lets out a few cheerful chirps at the contact, "well, we've wasted enough time out here, ready to head back?"

"Y-yeah, let's go."

Much to Noriaki's surprise, Jotaro sails straight to the docks of Cherrygrove City, where he dismounts, looking back at the redhead who looks shocked to be here.

"You live in this city, don't you?" Jotaro asks, suddenly unsure about where he is.

Noriaki snorts, "nah, you're in the right place. I'm just surprised you remembered." He says with a smile as he slides off Star's shell. "Here, come with me," Jotaro shoots him a concerned look, "come on, it'll take like five minutes."

"Fine, Star, you're free to roam; just don't go too far, alright?"

Star lets out a loud cry showing he understands, then turns to drift out to sea again.

"I could've sworn you told me he was "too violent to be anyone's partner," everything I've seen tells me he's incredibly sweet, doesn't have a temper like Hierophant," Noriaki says as he spins around to lead Jotaro to his house, ignoring the glare he receives from his partner.

Jotaro grimaces, "well, he used to have a real bad biting problem, but I think it's because he could tell his previous trainer didn't want him, so he lashed out. He's calmed down a lot since then."

"Ah, that's nice! I've had Hierophant since I was- I want to say three? He's been a great companion, huh, Hierophant?" The serpent lets out a satisfied huff; Noriaki knows he's just being a brat in front of Jotaro. "Ah, here we are, hold on a moment, this is going to look odd, but bear with me." 

"What are you-"

Noriaki bends down and opens the mail slot in his door, "just watch, alright?" He leans in close to speak through the hole, "hey, Cherubi, I'm home. Can you let me in?" He stands back up, "now we wait, she's going to take a minute since she's kinda slow, but she'll be happy to see me."

"You have a Cherubi let you into your house?"

"Only sometimes, when I've been away for too long, she watches over the house while I'm away."

"I'll ask again, a Cherubi?"

"Why not? She's great company."

Jotaro laughs; it's the only thing he can do, the fact that the redhead has a Pokémon watch over his house while he's away; it's absurd, yet so inherently  _ Noriaki _ that he can't help but love it.

After a few minutes, there's a dull click from within the door, indicating it's unlocked. Noriaki smiles as he opens the door to reveal Cherubi staring up at him. "There you are! Sorry I was away for so long." He coos as he scoops the Pokémon up, "it's good to see you though, did anything happen while I was gone?"

The little Cherry Pokémon smiles, gesturing to the floor where a small pile of mail.

"How long have you been away?" Jotaro asks, eying the pile.

"I've only been away a day, I'm not sure why I've got so much, but that's something to investigate later." Noriaki says, stepping over the pile, "come on in! I'll just be a minute."

Jotaro takes a deep breath as he enters the house; doing his best not to show his hesitance, he stays silent for a while, taking in the environment, the cluttered yet neat decor that just makes sense when it comes to the other trainer. He notices the painting Smeargle made of them hanging on the wall but decides he's better off not mentioning it. "Your house is nice; how long have you lived here?"

"Not too long, I bought it after I ran away with what little money I had."

"Aren't hotel rooms cheaper?"

"When you start, yes, but I like having the security that if I can't stay somewhere for the night, I can just come back here, and I have somewhere for my mail to go that isn't to my parents, in the end, it's just a good idea," Noriaki says with a smile as he turns to rummage through his fridge, pulling out various items and snacks for Jotaro to take with him.

"I guess that makes sense- what are you doing?"

"Getting you snacks! Unless you don't want anything?"

"No- it's alright, why are you giving me your food?"

"Oh! A lot of this is going to go bad soon, and I- uh- wanted to give you something since you've been so nice to me." Jotaro looks at him like he's insane; just a few days ago, they were at each other's throats, but who's he to say no to free snacks. "Well, that's not the best phrasing. I'm just happy you want to be my friend." Noriaki continues with an awkward smile.

Jotaro glances away, unable to meet his friend's gaze, "I- I'm happy you want to be my friend too." Just hearing those words tumble from his mouth makes Noriaki blush as red as his hair.

"A-anyway! I promised I wouldn't keep you long." The redhead says far too loudly as he picks up the small basket of goodies, pressing it to Jotaro's chest as Noriaki ushers him out of the house.

"Right- I'll text you later."

"Yeah! Sounds good; I'll um- see you later?"

Jotaro doesn't answer; instead, he takes off running toward the water, "Star, come on, we gotta go!" He calls, not even slowing down when he reaches the edge; instead, he jumps, landing gracefully on Star's back, sticking the landing well enough to continue standing, even as Star speeds off. He offers a wave to Noriaki as he races off toward the Indigo Plateau.

Noriaki sighs in relief once he's back inside, slumping against the door then sliding to the floor with a groan. He doesn't understand why he feels this way about the other trainer; hell, he doesn't even know what this feeling is. What he does know is he feels- good? Being around Jotaro- whatever, he'll figure it out later.

He finally gets off the floor after a few long minutes of sitting on the floor and grabs the discarded pile of mail that Hierophant placed on the counter before slinking off into the home, likely to the redhead's bed to take a nap, "thanks Hierophant!" He calls as he shuffles through it on the way to the couch, Cherubi following right behind him.

Noriaki's home isn't very well furnished, but it's home, decorated in the various mismatching knick-knacks he was able to take from his room, as well as countless others he's gathered on his journey. Another thing littering the area are numerous plants, from berry bushes to simple vines adorning and stretching along the walls, making the space all that more comforting.

"Let's see-" he mutters to himself as he flops onto the couch and begins to sort through the pile, "promotion, another promotion, oh this one's from the Pokémon Center in town, I should probably read that one, and-" he stops in his tracks, it's from his parents, who he hasn't talked to for the better part of a year, maybe even two. He hasn't even given them this address.

He tears into the envelope, finding the fact that they sent him a letter rather than tracking him down more infuriating; by the minute, he reads it, then rereads it, barely believing what he's reading.

_ Dear Noriaki,  _

_ We're writing this in hopes you'll return home; we recently discovered your whereabouts from that lovely nurse at the Pokémon Center in town, Joy I think her name is?-  _ Noriaki pauses in what feels like his fourth read-through of the letter to check the other from the Pokémon Center, finding it to be from Mahogany Town rather than Cherrygrove. He tears it open and skims through it, finding it to be an apology letter from the nurse in his hometown who had no idea he'd run away and is incredibly sorry for telling his parents where he is.

He sighs, silently accepting the poor girl's apology before continuing with the letter:  _ Regardless, we're sad that you disappeared on us without a word and would like to see you, should you let us. _

_ We were incredibly excited to learn you're the Champion! We knew you had it in you! _

Noriaki stops reading; he can't read anymore; suddenly, they're proud of him, for what? Attaining the very thing he set out to do? The same thing they thought was "out of his reach," and now they're proud? Seething, he gets up to get something to write on, he's probably going to regret this, but that's for later. He grabs paper and a pen and scribbles a letter, not caring about how messy it looks:

_ Mom and dad,  _

_ I ran away for a reason because you didn't respect my wishes. I don't want contact with either of you; I would've reached out by now if I did. _

_ I'm not sure if you've heard, but I'm no longer the Champion; someone came and beat me, not like you'd care; I'm sure you only care about the money that comes with the title. _

_ Forget my address; I don't want to talk to you. _

_ Noriaki. _

Noriaki reads over it again, deeming it good enough; he seals it in the envelope his parents sent and writes  _ return to sender  _ over it. He pulls his boots back on and stomps out of the house to the Poké Mart to send the letter off.

"Welcome to the Poké Mart! How can I help you?" The man attending the store asks as Noriaki walks into the store.

"Yeah, hi, sorry, but can you mail this?" Noriaki replies, awkwardly placing the envelope on the counter.

"Mahogany Town? Sure kid, but it's going to cost a little extra to get it out there since we're going to have to ship it to the Pokémon Center there."

"That's fine; how much is it?"

"150, and I'll have that going out with tomorrow's mail."

Noriaki sighs, that's not too bad, but it's a decent chunk of money considering he's running out; he rummages around in his bag for a minute and pulls out the right amount of money, "thank you." He mutters, giving the man a small, tired smile as he exits the store. With the rage slowly leaving his body, Noriaki returns home, he's not sure why the letter made him so mad, but he's glad it's over, at least for now.

When he's finally back within the confines of his home, he goes about tending to his plants, watering and snipping off the dead bits. It's nothing but relaxing. Noriaki can't quite explain it, but being alone with his plants and his Pokémon is nothing short of bliss. A few hours pass like they're nothing, marked with a text from the only number saved in Noriaki's phone.

**Jotaro (friend??)**

_ Hey, I'm done for the day. Do you want me to pick you up? _

**Noriaki Kakyoin**

_ You're done already? That was fast! _

**Jotaro (friend??)**

_ It's been nearly five hours!  _

**Noriaki Kakyoin**

_ Ah, I must've been distracted, sorry. _

**Jotaro (friend??)**

_ Don't worry about it. It happens to everyone. _

**Noriaki Kakyoin**

_ Right, well, to answer your question, I would like you to pick me up, considering I don't know where we're going. _

**Jotaro (friend??)**

_ Good, cuz' I'm outside. _

Noriaki nearly drops his phone when he reads the text, Jotaro's outside, right now? He lost track of time; he hasn't even showered or eaten anything since breakfast. He races to the door and finds Jotaro there, just like he said he'd be.

"Arceus, that was fast- are you okay?" Jotaro says the second the door's open.

Noriaki huffs. Is he alright? He's not entirely sure, at least not since he got that letter, "just- a bit frazzled, I've been taking care of my plants all day and lost track of time."

"Oh- do you need me to wait- you look horrible."

The blunt nature of Jotaro's response gets a chuckle out of Noriaki, "sorry, sorry, it's just- do you mind if I vent a bit?"

"Nope."

"Thank you; it's my parents. They found my address and sent me a letter; they told me they're proud of me and want me to come back home."

"Oh."

"I haven't read the whole thing; just them saying they're proud of me is enough for me to know they don't give a shit."

"Hey, Noriaki, listen to me." Jotaro says quietly while putting a hand on the redhead's shoulder, "you don't owe them anything, understand?"

"I-" the hand on his shoulder feels like it's going to burn him, "yes, I understand, thank you, really. I know we haven't always seen eye to eye on everything, but I appreciate the reassurance."

"Hey, you're my friend now; I'd be a bad friend if I didn't listen or try to help."

"Still, thank you. We're going to Goldenrod, yeah?"

"Yep, gotta get you a suit. Do you want to go now?"

"Actually, could you wait a bit while I shower?"

Jotaro chuckles, stepping past Noriaki to enter the home, "I don't mind, do what you gotta do; I'll just be here." He says with a small, almost unnoticeable smile as he flops onto the couch.

"Yeah-" Noriaki says, breathless, the air ripped from his throat at the sight of his friend on his couch. He can't describe it, but seeing him there just feels right, "I'll be back in a minute!"

While the redhead's gone, Jotaro busies himself by looking around the space again since there's a lot he didn't see the first time. There's so much to see in the cluttered space, from paintings to little ornaments; Jotaro's eyes dance around the room, never settling on one place for too long. After a few long minutes, Cherubi drifts closer to him, a broad smile on her face.

"The hell do you want?" Jotaro growls, causing the cherry Pokémon to flinch and shy away. The teen jolts; he almost forgot to be nice, "I'm sorry, c'mere." He says, quickly changing his tone and successfully coaxing the Pokémon closer; Jotaro finds it hard not to snap at things he sees as even the littlest bit annoying, but there's something about the redhead that makes him want to change that part of him.

He idly traces his fingers along Cherubi's leaves, delving into more thoughts of his redheaded friend; what would his life be like if he hadn't gone to challenge Noriaki that day? And what would Jotaro's life be like if Noriaki hadn't kept challenging him? It's not something he wants to think about, but some part of him can't help it. Jotaro sighs. He can't help but love the relationship he's built with the other teen, his first real friend, someone he doesn't want to lose.

"Hey, sorry that took so long- oh! Look at you two; at least one of my Pokémon likes you." Noriaki says as he enters the room, startling Jotaro into looking at the Pokémon in his lap, who has since fallen asleep.

He smiles, "yeah, she's sweet. Are you ready to go?" Jotaro says, finally looking up to Noriaki, only to have his breath hitch at the sight in front of him, "your hair's wet."

"Is that a problem?"

"Well- it's getting kinda late, and the quickest way to get to Goldenrod from here is to take Star. I don't want you getting sick."

"Awe, you care about me!" Noriaki calls in a teasing tone as he struts back to his room, not noticing the blush on Jotaro's face, "do you think stuffing it in a beanie would be okay? Ah, probably not if we're going to find me a suit, sorry turns out I'm not quite done yet!" He chuckles, finally drifting into his room to find his blow dryer.

Jotaro feels like his brain is short-circuiting; he doesn't know or understand what he feels for the redhead, but he's deemed it a bad thing for now. He can't even look at the guy without getting flustered; why? It's just his friend, sure he's incredibly attractive, but that doesn't mean anything.

The next time Noriaki returns, his hair's dry and styled the way it always is; it looks good, it always does, "ready?" He asks with a bright smile that nearly makes Jotaro's brain turn to mush again.

"Yeah- yeah, uh-" Jotaro slowly slides the sleeping Cherubi off his lap and hops up, "where's Hierophant?"

Noriaki snorts, "he's asleep; I'm pretty sure he'd kill me if I tried to wake him up now."

"Uh- okay, well." Jotaro side-steps Noriaki to get outside.

The night air is cool and calm against Jotaro's skin, filling him with a sense of peace as he listens to the crash of waves against the shore.

"It's nice out here! Cold, but nice." Noriaki cheers while he locks his door behind him.

Jotaro smiles and lets out a loud whistle toward the water, "I think Star went further out this time. He might be a minute."

"Ah, that's fine. Did anyone fun come and challenge you today?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it fun, but some kid came in with an entire party of Bidoof, not sure how that one made it past the Elite Four, but she must've done it since she made it to me."

"That certainly is interesting! How'd she do?"

"I beat her with Star alone."

Noriaki sucks a breath through his teeth, "yep, should've seen that coming."

"Hey, your team is heaps and bounds stronger than hers will ever be; I still believe in you, got it?" Jotaro says, leveling a cold stare at the other trainer.

"I- yeah, I suppose you're right."

Star joins them a moment later, cutting off their short-lived conversation. Noriaki wastes no time hoisting himself onto Star's shell, shooting an expectant look at Jotaro when he doesn't immediately follow.

"Come on now; we've gotta get there before they close."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Jotaro says as he climbs up next to Noriaki, "Star, we're going to Goldenrod, you know where that is, right?" 

The Pokémon lets out a few chirps of affirmation, then speeds off toward the city in question.

"We'll be there in five minutes. Do you have an idea of what you want?"

Noriaki groans, "not really, something green?"

"Green?" Jotaro repeats, surprised

"It's my favorite color."

"Oh, well, I'm sure they'll have something."

They do have something, seven whole racks full of different shades of green suits; Noriaki starts sifting through them until his eye catches one in particular. He pulls one out, deep emerald green with intricate gold vines and leaves stitched in a weaving pattern up the jacket's arms and torso.

"You like that one?" Jotaro asks, earning a surprised yelp from the redhead.

"Yeah, actually, oh-" Noriaki trails off, looking at the price tag, "I can't afford this." He says after a minute, gently putting the garment back.

"At least try it on." Jotaro urges, grabbing the suit from the rack again, forcefully shoving it into Noriaki's arms.

"I- Arceus alright, fine, but after, I'm gonna find a different one." He doesn't need to; Jotaro sees how much he likes the suit. If Noriaki can't buy it himself, Jotaro's going to buy it for him. After a few minutes, Noriaki pokes his head out the changing room door, "uh- sorry, but this is way too big, could you-" 

"Yeah, how much smaller?" 

"Two sizes."

Jotaro darts off into the racks to find a replacement, sifting through the stands as fast as he can until he finds the right one.

"Hey, I found-" He starts but trails off at the sight of Noriaki standing half-naked in front of him. Fuck, he's actually really pretty, wait no, that's not it, no Noriaki's his friend, that's not, nope, vetoing that now.

"Thanks, Jotaro!" Noriaki says, a delicate blush painting his face as he retreats into the changing room.

Jotaro just blinks at the space where his friend used to be; he, shit, Jotaro thinks he's pretty, there's no use denying it now, but Jotaro doesn't know what that means, does he tell him? No, that'd be embarrassing; he'll just wait it out.

Noriaki steps out of the changing room once again, the suit fits him perfectly, and he looks fantastic in it; the green goes well with his hair, "well, how do I look? Fancy? I feel fancy."

"You do look fancy," Jotaro says with a chuckle.

The redhead sighs, "too bad I can't buy this, it's very nice; I'll go take it off, and we can keep looking, okay?"

"Actually- I'll buy it for you if you like it that much." 

"What? No, no, that's, it's too much, I wouldn't be able to pay you back-"

"Hey, I want to get this for you; I don't care about how much it costs, especially if it makes you happy." That might've been too far, but Jotaro means every word.

Noriaki looks like he's about to cry, "I- Arceus, I'm probably only going to wear it once, this is a lot to spend, fuck you've already spent so much on me-"

"I don't mind; I've got more money than I know what to do with. I've been the Champion for almost a year now, and even before that, I've always had money; gramps owns the biggest trading company in the world; I- I can't say I know what it's like not to have money because I don't, and probably never will. Just- let me do this-" Jotaro's rambling is cut off by Noriaki nearly tackling him in a hug.

"Thank you for everything, not just this. I appreciate it more than I can say." Noriaki mumbles against Jotaro's chest before pulling away, "alright, you win, I'll let you get the suit, but I'll make it up to you, got it?"

"Yeah, got it," Jotaro says with what little breath he has left, all the while resisting the urge to run his fingers through Noriaki's hair.

The suit wasn't that expensive, at least to Jotaro, the cost barely putting a dent into his funds, not that he'd tell Noriaki that. Jotaro takes him back home, an ever-present smile on his face. Something tells him the redhead won't be forgetting this night for a while.

When they make it back to Noriaki's house, he doesn't bother calling Cherubi; instead, he opens the door with his key, "Um, well, that was- eventful, thanks for taking me and paying for my suit, I'll see you next week at the masquerade, alright?" He asks as he slips into his house.

"Yeah- see you," Jotaro mutters as Noriaki shuts the door with a small smile. Jotaro's convinced this boy's going to kill him in one way or another.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is gonna be a bit of a slow burn in terms of JotaKak content, Jotaro will be in the next chapter, and will be in the rest of the story.


End file.
